Parents of special needs children in Texas – the government hates you. From the parent’s perspective, this is a fair if oversimplified statement. It is already hard to get the services, supplies, equipment and support to barely keep our kids going, much less be able to provide them with what is truly needed for them to improve and thrive. Today, parents are barely getting by with what they can get for their kids, and struggling to figure out how to find and pay for what they can’t. Families are already spending the majority of their waking hours focused on managing the care and development of their special needs child.
If lawmakers cut funding, which will result in a cut to services to families, parents will be forced to make some hard choices as they scramble to just to keep their heads above water. From this parent’s perspective, it’s not unlike when our government imposes trade sanctions against a country that needs punishing. When we want to send a punishing message to another country, we reduce or completely remove the amount of financial support it gets from us. Reducing or removing financial support is one of the tools our government has to show its displeasure or punish. So, in this light it does seem like our Texas legislature is imposing sanctions against families with special needs kids.
There are a lot of numbers flying around, but the bottom line if ,more funding is cut is:
- Some parents will no longer be able to get the care at home or in a community setting that their kids need, and they will have to make some hard choices
- Children will not receive early intervention services and will be less able to become independent and more likely to be a burden on the system
- More families will be brought to a financial brink and rates of crimes of desperation and homelessness will increase as parents are overwhelmed and have no where to turn.
If what you are reading sounds a little to extreme to be true, find a family with a special needs child and spend a day learning about what they go through. You’ll find that the help they receive today, however small, makes the difference in their daily life. It’s possible that you would be able to make the case that more services and funding are really needed to better support these families, not less. Join a rally, tomorow in support of this issue!
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